Poisoned Warrior
by Magic Noden
Summary: The seventh Alex Rider story. Alex is sent on the trail of a suspected Australian criminal. But, when the man is shot, and it appears Alex is the next victim, Alex must travel to Japan and find out about it's history before it is too late for him.
1. Prologue and Authors Note

Poisoned Warrior

I am Aran Noden, author of this story and many others similar. My other AR story, Shadow Bringer, was quite frankly crap, and this one is better. I hope. Please review it if you like it. If you hate it, tell me and I will discontinue it immediately. I hope it will never come to that! So, try to have as much fun reading it as I do writing it.

Prologue

_He was about seven feet tall, and Japanese. The Serpent, they called him. Not only did he bear striking resemblance to a snake, but he was invisible until he wanted to be seen. And at the moment, he did not want to be seen._

_He kept low to the ground, creeping through the bushes of the Australian Outback. He had not seen a house for four miles. He had not seen a living person for at least 10. And still he prowled. He was looking for something in particular. He hadn't found it, and so continued his search. His eyes gazed around. Night was falling, the sky almost as black as the man's dark glasses. Almost as black as his silenced Colt M-16 Assault Rifle. It was 37 inches long and weighed almost nine pounds when loaded. It fired 800 rounds per minute._

_He heard a noise, and his body went into freeze frame. You could almost see it go rigid, in pause mode. You could almost see his ears prick up, like a fox or a wolf. He heard something else – a twig snapping – and suddenly, a play button was pressed in his head, and he ran forwards, quietly as ever._

_There were two people in front of him, both wearing backpacks. They were sat on a rock, enjoying the sunset together. Two lovers on a backpacking holiday. This, of course was not true. The Serpent had found has target. He was a computer software developer from Bristol, England. He had made a very big enemy. The other was not his concern. He waited a couple of seconds, and then put 100 rounds into each of them. Silently as ever. His work was perfect. The silent attack always worked. He was like a wolf on the prowl. Like a bird of prey._

_Like a serpent._


	2. Chapter One: Sharks

SHARKS

Alex didn't know how long he had been floating there, floating in his small metal prison, slowly withering away. There was no food in the shuttle, and he was ravenous. He had been there at least seven hours. It had to be ten since he'd had food. He was thirsty, and he almost managed a smile when he thought of all the water for miles around, and he couldn't drink it.

He had opened the hatch, and sat back, watching the sky. He had gained barely any sleep, and after going into space, he still had a sense of irregularity at the zero gravity. It was normal. He was quite sure he was dying. After all he'd been through, he was going to die here, in the middle of the sea, somewhere near Australia.

It was around that time that he was attacked by the sharks. Obviously, he had been cut in space, but he was not bleeding, and he hadn't been into the water anyway, although occasionally it had occurred to him to jump in and die, or try to swim to the mainland. He guessed that curiosity over the big metal object floating in their water, rather than his own blood, had attracted the creatures.

It was unfortunate for him that the hatch was open, as almost instantly after he realised what was going on and moved to close it, a shark nudged the bottom of the shuttle, and the whole thing capsized. Alex was thrown into the water. He gasped, and let the air escape. He swam to the surface, took another breath, and then went back under.

There were three sharks, he estimated. They were keeping their distance, probably scared by his scream. They hid in the murky shadows, waiting to approach. He was quite sure he must be bleeding somewhere, and at the same time, he knew he had to get to his shuttle, to escape from the predators that now circled him, getting closer. They seemed to be communicating, looking at each other, sniffing for him, finding his blood, making sure they were ready for when he finally ran out of energy.

The first, bravest shark approached. It was a great white, as, he presumed, were the others. And he could not swim away. Fatigue would see to that. He would die, and be eaten as a snack by these huge predators.

He could almost smell the shark as it approached. It occurred to him to just take the chance, swim away as fast as he could. But, if he made any sudden moves the shark would pounce. He was fast, but it was faster.

The shark nearest him was close now, so close that it had even stopped to sniff him, make sure he was the blood they could smell. It was taking it's time, though. The other two sharks seemed curios, and began to approach. Then, one by one, they stopped, and seemed to no longer be in control. They were bending, floating away from him. And there was a red dye in the water – blood. The sharks had all been shot, but by who? He had been saved, but why?

A ladder dropped down into the water. He grabbed it, and climbed up. It hung from a helicopter, and standing in it's doorway were two men Alex had never seen. As he climbed inside and the door was dragged shut, Alex saw John Crawley sat in the passenger seat.

"Thanks for saving me from those sharks." Alex smiled, wet and cold, but alive.

"Sharks?" Crawley asked, genuinely puzzled, but no more was said.

-----

It wasn't long after four pm that Chad Morris, an Australian newsreader, said something that caught Alex Rider's attention.

"_In the early hours of this morning, British software developer Charles Brixton was brutally murdered, with at least 90 shots fired at close range into his back, neck and head. His receptionist, who it has now emerged Brixton may have been having an affair with, was also killed, but is not thought to be the target._

_Brixton, who was from Bristol, England, was on a backpacking holiday in the outback, when…"_

Alex stopped listening – he had heard enough. Charles Brixton… Alex had heard that name very recently. He didn't know where, but he had heard it.

Brixton was a tall, bookish man, with dark hair, thick glasses, and a narrow face. He was clean and tidy, intelligent, and dead. And Alex recognised his name. Little did he know that, had the man not have been murdered in the early hours, Charles Brixton would have met Alex Rider the very next day.


	3. Chapter Two: PC Review

PC REVIEW 

_PC Review_ was Felix Lester's favourite magazine. He had bought it every week since he had been about nine years old. It contained everything he needed to know not just about computers, but about technology. He ran his own website, was fluent in three different coding languages, and could type 100 words per minute on any standard computer keyboard. He had taken a practise IT GCSE paper when he was 13, and passed with exceptional performance. He had even won a competition, run by the magazine, to test out a new, state-of-the-art computer, the Stormbreaker, which, he noticed, had disappeared somewhat since the creator had died in a mysterious helicopter accident. He hadn't even had the chance to test it – Herod Sayle had fallen ill, so instead he had been sent on holiday in Scotland, which he had enjoyed, but not half as much.

The article that caught his attention was one regarding Charles Brixton, the genius behind BattleNET, the world's largest Internet game, with over 6 million hits each day. This was about how maybe one day, Pentagon meetings would be held over the internet, and important decisions would by made through cyber-characters. He could imagine it now, the Prime Minister, an elf or a pixie. It made him laugh, quietly to himself. Then, he was called down to dinner, and the whole thing was forgotten.

Very short, I'll probably make it longer, at some point. It's just a first draft, I'm posting cause I haven't updated for ages.


End file.
